Biography
Mick Jones, after his dismissal from the Clash in 1983, launched Big Audio Dynamite (B.A.D.) the next year specifically to pursue the experimental funk threads that had surfaced on Combat Rock. The first version of the band comprised Jones, video artist and longtime Clash associate Don Letts on effects and vocals, drummer Greg Roberts, keyboardist Dan Donovan, and bassist Leo "E-Zee Kill" Williams. B.A.D. entered the marketplace with the September 1985 single "The Bottom Line" and the album This Is Big Audio Dynamite before the year closed, folding samplers, dance grooves, and found sounds into Jones' tightly constructed pop songs. "E=MC2" and "Medicine Show" registered as major UK successes and also registered on American dance charts.
The follow-up arrived in late 1986 as No. 10, Upping St., an album that carried co-production and co-writing credits from Joe Strummer, Jones' ex-Clash bandmate. The record achieved a stronger integration of current studio techniques with Jones' songwriting, and its lead singles "C'mon Every Beatbox" and "V. Thirteen" charted respectably on both the British pop listings and the American dance charts. After a two-year pause the band delivered the more tightly arranged Tighten Up, Vol. 88, then restored momentum in 1989 with Megatop Phoenix, their strongest American showing to date on the strength of the singles "Contact" and "James Brown."
The original lineup dissolved at the end of 1989. Jones quickly recruited bassist/vocalist Gary Stonadge, drummer/vocalist Chris Kavanagh, and guitarist/vocalist Nick Hawkins to create Big Audio Dynamite II, while Letts, Williams, and Roberts formed Screaming Target and Donovan joined the Sisters of Mercy. The new configuration's first album, The Globe, appeared in 1991 and delivered B.A.D. II's biggest commercial breakthrough with the American Top 40 hit "Rush." In 1994 Jones shortened the name to Big Audio for the release of Higher Power.
Following that album the band left Epic and signed with Radioactive in early 1995, issuing F-Punk. The single "I Turned Out a Punk" gained college-radio traction despite an initial anonymous release, though Jones' voice proved immediately identifiable. This incarnation also disbanded soon afterward, after which Jones moved into production, overseeing projects such as the Libertines' Up the Bracket.
The follow-up arrived in late 1986 as No. 10, Upping St., an album that carried co-production and co-writing credits from Joe Strummer, Jones' ex-Clash bandmate. The record achieved a stronger integration of current studio techniques with Jones' songwriting, and its lead singles "C'mon Every Beatbox" and "V. Thirteen" charted respectably on both the British pop listings and the American dance charts. After a two-year pause the band delivered the more tightly arranged Tighten Up, Vol. 88, then restored momentum in 1989 with Megatop Phoenix, their strongest American showing to date on the strength of the singles "Contact" and "James Brown."
The original lineup dissolved at the end of 1989. Jones quickly recruited bassist/vocalist Gary Stonadge, drummer/vocalist Chris Kavanagh, and guitarist/vocalist Nick Hawkins to create Big Audio Dynamite II, while Letts, Williams, and Roberts formed Screaming Target and Donovan joined the Sisters of Mercy. The new configuration's first album, The Globe, appeared in 1991 and delivered B.A.D. II's biggest commercial breakthrough with the American Top 40 hit "Rush." In 1994 Jones shortened the name to Big Audio for the release of Higher Power.
Following that album the band left Epic and signed with Radioactive in early 1995, issuing F-Punk. The single "I Turned Out a Punk" gained college-radio traction despite an initial anonymous release, though Jones' voice proved immediately identifiable. This incarnation also disbanded soon afterward, after which Jones moved into production, overseeing projects such as the Libertines' Up the Bracket.
Albums
